Our New, Old House

Logan and I purchased our first house about 8 months ago.  It was built in 1939 and needed some TLC!  Overall, it was in pretty good shape and has great bones.  On the inside, the paint was chipping and falling off, and the plaster walls had cracks.  We have been working on renovating it, and hope to be finished and moved in soon!  Some of our projects included repainting everything inside, refinishing all the hardwood floors, and totally redoing the kitchen.  We put in a HVAC system (the house had a furnace and window units), new plumbing in the kitchen and downstairs powder room, and had the windows reworked as they were painted shut with about 10 layers of paint.  We will put in new toilets, sinks and fixtures for the bathrooms.  We added spray insulation to the attic, and had new electrical done throughout the house.  WHEW!!!  Here are a few before pictures.  I will post some more when everything gets finished and do a room by room tour. 

View from the front of the house.  Look at the windows and how the blinds are pulled tight!  When we bought the house, all the windows had blinds, sheer curtains, and then regular curtains.  Notice how tall the scrubs are in the front.  Logan and I pruned them all back, but we think that we will pull some of them up this spring and start over.  

Back of house.  Yes....those are state of the art window units upstairs.  And the ivy was growing inside the house.

Living Room

This is the living room.  Don't you love the plush gold carpet?!!  Underneath is gorgeous oak flooring.  I love the plaster crown molding.  All of the rooms have plaster walls except for the kitchen because we totally gutted it and started over.

Den

View from front door

 We thought about keeping the chairlift.  It would be convenient for Logan to get upstairs if he has had one too many adult beverages! :)

Kitchen

I kept the sink and had it refinished as well as the faucet.  

Downstairs half bath

Logan really wanted to keep this bathroom the way it was......NOT.  We removed all of this and actually moved a wall here to allow you to walk from the den into the kitchen.

Ranger likes it!

What a jungle!

Sun Porch

Dining Room

I'll do more posts later to show each room and how we refinished each one.  I'll also add some pictures of upstairs.  We can't wait to move in!

Anniversary Trip to Barnsley Gardens

Last weekend Logan and I spent the weekend at Barnsley Gardens in Northwest, Ga.  We had a great relaxing weekend.  The food was great, the rooms were comfy, and the gardens were  beautiful.  What a great place to celebrate three years of marriage!  I would recommend this place for a great weekend getaway.  

 Ruins from the old original house on the grounds from the Barnsley family.

 Golf Course.

 Beautiful Rose Arbor

 Our Room

Happy Spring!

Here are some pictures that I have taken recently of Ranger and of the flowers in the yard.   Enjoy! 

 This is a red-bellied woodpecker, common in Eastern woodlands and forests.  From what I have read on the internet, I think that this one is a male.  I will be looking for it again in the yard to try to get some more pictures.  Ranger is good a scaring off the birds and squirrels, so I have to be quick!

I'm BACK!!!!

Thanks to my sweet husband for my Christmas present this year.  He gave me a new laptop.  My old one has been out of commission for the last 6 months, so I have not done any posts.  I had filled it up with too many pictures, dental school files, and junk.  Many more posts to come for 2012.  

Spring in Asheville

Logan, Ranger and I went to the gardens at the Biltmore house on Sunday.  There were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful day.  We enjoyed the tulips and daffadils in bloom, as well as many other flowers.  Here are some pictures from our outing. 

We had a difficult time getting Ranger to look for the picture.  We figured out if we said "Jasper" (his best dog friend that has since moved away from Asheville) or "cookies" he perked up and looked at the camera!

Ranger found the only stick anywhere in site among the perfectly manicured grass.  He went crazy trying to take it from Logan.

 This area is a courtyard off to the side of the house.  There will be a big flower carpet in the next few weeks in the space, but for now it is just gravel.  You can see the wall at the back of the picture that separates the house/gardens from the rest of the yard.  So now that you have a general sense for the area.......here is what happened while we where here.


Ranger knows a few commands such as sit, down, stay, "get it" (which could mean get the car, person, bird, bug etc).  He also knows jump.  We will say "jump" when we want him to jump on the sofa or bed, or to jump on rocks and stuff while we are out hiking.  So Logan, not knowing how well I have trained Ranger on this command, says "Jump Ranger" when they get close to the wall.....just testing and teasing him to see what Ranger will do.  Ranger jumps, almost goes over the edge, and Logan pulls him back on the leash.  It was a good thing that he was wearing his halti leash and did not get chocked!

This is a view of the other side of the wall, with a very steep drop off, that my precious dog could have fallen over the edge because my husband was teasing him!!!!!!!

 Everybody is good now.....no one is hurt. 

This is a view of the French Broad River.  Logan and I had a picnic here before we went home.  We were sitting there for about 10 minutes watching the goose in the water, when Ranger spotted the goose on the bank.  (See previous picture).  Logan instructed him to "get it", and he decided that he was scared, and ran back to us for protection.  

 All in all, it was a good day. 

War Eagle!!!

Here are some pictures from our fabulous trip to Phoenix for the National Championship game.  Logan and I had a great time site seeing, eating, shopping, and of course cheering on the Tigers.  The weather was wonderful at 65 degrees......a lot better than snow and freezing temps here in Asheville.  Our flight back to Charlotte was cancelled on Tuesday, so we were able to stay and enjoy another day in Scottsdale, and we didn't mind at all. 

View from outside our hotel in Scottsdale.

Logan's button was a hit.....people asked it they could buy it from him.  He said that his mother-in-law gave it to him for Christmas, so he couldn't sell it. 

Auburn fans were everywhere.

Me, Nicole, and Carrie

Scottsdale

Allison and me

The hotel with an Aubie outside the room

Game Day!